Hawk's Chaos
by Shinzoku95100
Summary: Well, finding out his best friend was pregnant was pretty cool news. Then he realizes that having a peaceful life was probably never going to happen. Clintasha. Collaboration with Rakei.
1. Revelation

For once, nothing much was really happening. Bruce was down in the labs doing science-y things, and Pepper was running about doing her usual business of keeping people happy and contacting people Tony probably never would despite his promises. Fury was finally quiet for once; new recruits were flooding in at this time of year, especially since school was over, and he, dare we say it, for once, did not ask for Clint's help. The archer in question was sitting at the top floor of Stark Tower, next to Tony on the couch with a large TV in front of them, the sound so loud Jarvis was hardly able to speak above it. One of Tony's greatest plans was to keep Clint entertained the entire year Natasha was gone on a mission in Russia.

How did he entertain the assassin? Call of Duty- Nazi Zombies.

"I'm going to punch you if you don't kill these dogs," Tony grumbled. Clint rolled his eyes.

"So what if my aim isn't the most perfect, eh? I d like to see you do better."

"You're fucking HAWKEYE."

"This is a VIDEO GAME."

"For the love of- just kill these dogs!"

Clint huffed and pressed the right trigger on his controller. Down went one flaming dog- then the next- and another- and what was Tony doing? Standing in the back of the tunnel, 'keeping guard', as he looked out a God damn window. Clint, who was sitting sideways on the couch with his boots on a pillow, kicked Tony in the shoulder and growled at him.

"You tell me to kill the dogs and you yourself don't help?" he asked. "What is teamwork? Can you carry it? Eat it? Tuck it into bed at night with a glass of warm milk? Is it a fleeting word that does not belong in Tony's vocabulary?"

"Oh come on, I know teamwork. I know teamwork like the back of my hand."

"Really. Is that why I'm dead?"

"Oh shit-"

"Hold on, Tasha's texting me. Don't start the game up, you jerk!"

Tony rolled his eyes and hit the pause button. He peered over Clint s shoulder, trying to get a peek at what he was texting, but was unable to. Over on Clint's side, he had texted, "_I'm owning zombies like none other on this game_."

They played for a few minutes longer, and then paused again as Clint got another text. He snorted. Tony snatched his cellphone away and looked at it, seeing, "_Are you using a bow, Mr. Hawkeye?_"

After grabbing it back and giving a swift kick to Tony's chest, Clint responded with, "_Pft! I wish! I think I just died of laughter._"

As he waited for a text back, Clint grabbed a glass of water Tony had gotten him. Not even ten seconds after, he received a text and all water in his mouth was spat at Tony, who cringed.

"Okay, what was that for? Now you need to show me that text because you just got your spit-ridden water all over my shirt."

Clint shoved his phone into Tony's face. The man pulled away to be able to read it, a grin slowly creeping up on his face as he finished. They stared in complete silence for a moment, and at one point Jarvis even asked what was wrong. Neither said anything as Clint quickly tapped away at his phone; Tony found it funny, how when not in the presence of other SHIELD agents or Fury, Clint was so...quirky. He made faces at his phone whenever he texted Natasha, and when not bombarded by stress he often talked in his sleep. It was kind of fun seeing Clint so stunned.

Silence lasted for only a few moments until Clint placed his phone on the coffee table.

"4 months..." Clint breathed. "I..."

"What's going on? It got too quiet in here." Steve appeared in the doorway, his arms crossed, with a curious look on his face.

"Oh, Cupid here only knocked up his girlfriend," Tony replied in a sing song voice, bringing his glass of Scotch up to his lips.

Clint growled and kicked Tony three times in the shoulder, once in the side of the head with the heel of his boot just for good measure. They bickered back and forth about 'thinking before you say something!', almost ready to lunge at each other until Steve held Clint back. Out of nowhere came Bruce, who was tightly holding Tony back.

"You owe me ten," Bruce said with a sly smile. They stopped their fighting, confused looks appearing on their faces. Clint lowered his leg and rested his foot against the pillow again, glaring daggers at Bruce.

Steve's grip slackened. "Fine, fine, whatever-"

"Did you _bet_?" Clint asked, his gaze flicking from Bruce to Steve, who was towering above him. "On _what_?

"Oh, on which of you was going to have a kid first," Bruce said, as if it did not mean anything in the world. "But that's not important. What's important is that you two don't decapitate each other."

Clint's phone began to vibrate. Steve let him go and the assassin lunged for the phone, checking it quickly, his eyes darting back and forth. Heaving a sigh, he leaned back on the couch, propped one foot at the edge of the table, and responded to Natasha, eyebrows furrowed. Tony scooted over to look over Clint's shoulder as he typed. Suddenly the smaller man tensed and his button mashing stopped.

"Wait. Isn't Natasha IN RUSSIA?"

"God damn it, Katniss," Tony grumbled, standing and sticking a finger in the ear that Clint had just yelled in. Clint placed his phone on the couch cushion next to him and stood. He approached Tony calmly, an intense look in his eye. "Let's see your reaction when your best friend tells you she's pregnant and in the middle of Russia on a confidential mission that I can't even know about.

Sunlight suddenly brightened the room. Clint and Tony let out loud hisses, moans, and groans, turning away from the windows that had gone from dark and tinted to clear. Steve gave the two disappointed looks and walked away, Bruce following close behind.

"Damn, what time is?" Tony looked at his wrist, noticing that his watch was gone. Narrowing his eyes against the light, he stumbled over the couch and strolled into the kitchen, leaning down over the stove to read, '1:30' on the clock. "Pepper, where are you-?"

Clint saw Pepper standing in front of the windows, a tiny smile on her face. One arm was crossed over her chest, her other up with a controller in her hand pointed toward the roof.

"You guys haven't left this floor in a week," she said. "I'm pretty sure you haven't seen light in days, let alone food."

"Food is for the weak," Clint hissed, sitting- more like flopping- down on the couch. He crossed his arms and crossed one leg over the other, jumping when his phone went off.

_'Looks like I'm still going to be here for a few more weeks.'_

_'Oh, I want you back now. What do they have you doing?'_

_'Confidential.'_

_'Damn it, I forgot. Sorry. If it was me in charge, I'd have you back tomorrow.'_

_'Clint, I've still got a lot of things to finish before I can leave. They'll have me back soon, okay?'_

Tony reached down and snatched the phone one more time. Clint reached up to grab it, but Tony sprinted to the other side of the room, tapping away at the screen. Around and around the suite they went, Clint screaming curses at Tony, who was leaping on the counters of the kitchen and scrambling up the fridge. Clint had lost sight of him and was now whipping his head back and forth, searching for Stark.

_'Hey, Nat, you think Legolas will find me on top of the fridge?'_

_'Are you asking for a death sentence, Stark?'_

_'Oh come on- shit he found me!'_

Not only had Clint found Tony, but he had one of his old bows out, an arrow notched, and his stance was strong. Oh dear. Tony grinned and leaped down. In his mind, no way was Clint going to get his phone back. Or, well, if he did, Tony would just get his own phone, find Natasha's number, and bug her that way. What was going on was so different- he wondered what it would be like to see their assassin baby running around.

Now he was outside, still texting Natasha. She was furiously sending texts back, telling him that there was no way he would be able to make it past Clint. He simply rolled his eyes and stuffed the phone into his back pocket, telling Jarvis to only put the boots and arms of his suit on as he ran onto the launch pad. He was headed to the top of the tower, just to sit and terrorize Clint's girlfriend. But, when he arrived up there, the archer was waiting for him, an arrow pointed straight at him.

"What- how-"

"I have my ways. Now give me my God damn phone, Stark. I am serious."

Both men were slightly wavering back and forth; for the past week they had been living off of instant ramen, a ton of soda (or alcohol in Tony's case), and have been playing nothing but video games. Neither had seen the light of day. Being outside so suddenly for this long was...wow, they could hardly see and the windows had been open for about thirty minutes by now.

"Give me the phone, Tony," Clint growled, a hint of warning in his voice.

"I don't have to give you anything, Tony retorted, crossing his arms and smirking. Then, Stark darted towards the entrance to the top floor of the tower. Clint, somehow managing to muster up a short burst of energy, lashed out and tackled the man to the ground. The genius pulled the phone out his pocket and held it out, hoping it was out of the archers reach. Thankfully, it was, but Clint crawled over the man and grabbed his phone, snapping a few fingers in the process.

Bruce was furious at the two. Fortunately, he was able to keep his cool and splinted Tony s broken fingers rather calmly. But, there was nothing anyone could do for the man s bruised ego. Throughout the day, Stark shot glares at the archer and, with his good hand, he pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at Clint, silently vowing to get him back.

* * *

_**Shinzu**_ : Explanation time? It's an on going roleplay between me and Rakei. We've decided to turn it into a fanfiction! We're trying to keep the characters...IN character.


	2. Fury

It was too early for this. Six in the morning was like...everyone should be asleep then! Actually, Clint and Tony had been sleeping in for the past week, so getting up at six in the morning to tend to the mess they had made in the living room was like mental torture.

Clint rolled over in bed and ran a hand through his hair, hitting the alarm on his clock with the other. The night before, it had taken Steve, Bruce, and a strong lock to get Tony to stop taunting him and get out of his room. Apparently, the man had gotten back into his room during the night and stolen his phone, because when Clint picked it up to look at it, there was at least 100 new messages. He read them- all from various agents- and then went back to the one text Tony had sent to every single one on his contacts list. Clint narrowed his eyes. "Guys, guys, it's Tony! Guess who's having a demon assassin baby!"

He gritted his teeth. Oh, he would get Tony back good. And by good, he meant smacking Tony upside the head with his sturdiest bow. It was in his hand as he stomped to the elevator, but he slung it across his shoulders when his phone began to vibrate.

_Morning, Clint._

_Good morning, Tasha! How's the mission?_

_Classified._

_Shit. Sorry, forgot. Er- how are you this morning?_

_Sick. I need to head off to do something. Talk to you in a little bit._

A frown crossed the archer's face. He quickly got rid of it and composed himself as the elevator doors opened. Tony was there, sweeping wrappers and cans from the floor, while Pepper sat at the kitchen counter signing and looking over papers. She looked up and pointed to the couch; a ton of blankets and clothes had been thrown there and Clint was pretty sure he was going to need to fold them.

He strolled forward, taking his bow in his hand, smacking Tony in the head with it as he walked by. Tony gave Clint a death glare, lifting his broom up to hit Clint in the back of the head. When Pepper cleared her throat and gave Tony a look, he stopped and went back to sweeping, vowing once more to get Clint back.

"I don't see why we had to get up at the crack of dawn," Clint grumbled. He threw his bow on the table and reached down to grab a blanket.

"Agents don't put weapons on the table." Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Prop it up against a wall."

"Who put you in charge?"

Pepper stared at him. He rolled his eyes and took his bow to a wall, putting attitude into the way he placed it. Tony was smirking the whole time; he would have been dead had looks been able to kill.

"Why did you put me in charge of folding? I don't like it. Do you know how hard it is to fold jackets?"

"You're going to need to learn eventually."

"Shut up, Stark!"

"What? It's true." Tony attempted a somewhat serious look. "If that kid's anything like you, you'll find jackets on the FAN."

Instantly Clint and Pepper looked up towards the ceiling. Tony looked smug and swept all of the junk on the ground into a neat pile.

"Oh God, Clint! Don't climb the walls-!" Pepper jumped up from her seat, too late to stop the archer. He managed to find footholds and leaped from the wall, snagging the jacket before falling down to the table. "Don't- don't do that!"

Tony chuckled. "Flying withdrawals." He lifted his arms as if he were a bird. Clint threw the jacket at Tony. With a sigh, Pepper told them to get back to work. She threatened them with no breakfast, and even told Clint she would take away his phone.

For about twenty minutes, neither man would look at the other. They silently went about their tasks and finished in good time. Pepper did not even tell Clint to put his phone away when he took it out.

_Sorry about Tony, Tasha..._He finally told her.

_Oh, so it WAS him? That explains the hundreds of texts I got earlier._

_Yeah. I kind of snapped a few of his fingers for you._

_Good, good. Now if everyone would stop asking about my sex life..._

_I'll punish the agents soon, don't worry. I bet Fury already knows._

_I bet he'd rather hear it from one of us, Clint._

_Okay, so which one of us should tell him?_

_Not it._

_Oh you suck! Fine, fine, I'll tell_

—he paused his texting to look up. Tony was listening to Jarvis, who was kindly telling them they had a visitor. Director Fury. Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear. –_him soon, okay? He's right downstairs._

No one actually had to go downstairs. By the time Steve and Bruce had come over to see what was going on, Fury had come up the elevator with Hill and two of his best agents. Clint gritted his teeth and brushed dirt (courtesy of Tony) off of his shirt, standing so he looked presentable, though he was not sure how presentable he looked in shorts and a t-shirt.

Tony held his broom next to him, his other arm hanging freely beside him. "What's up, Fury?" he asked.

"I've come to discuss something a little birdie told me about," Fury said, eyeing Clint. "Something about a certain pair of assassins being with child."

"They're true..." Clint began. Tony snorted.

"Of course they're true," Stark chortled. "Why wouldn't they be?"

"Stark, this is between Barton and me," Fury said seriously, casting the man a look.

Tony rolled his eyes. Clint watched him leave to the kitchen and then turned to look at Fury.

"You and I will be having a little chat in my office tomorrow," Fury said. "We'll be discussing the terms of having a little snot-nosed brat running around the tower." Fury gave Clint a look that made him shrink back and little. The archer ran a hand through his hair when Fury turned away; it was just like him to bring a bunch of agents to intimidate people, huh? Or maybe they were there just in case a fight broke out. At least now he had something to do and Pepper would not force him to clean things.

"I'll be there," Clint said. "But can you at least tell me when Tasha will be home?" Fury kept walking and the archer swore the director would disappear without answering his question. But just as the elevator door was closing, Fury spoke.

"Two weeks, Barton. I can't wait, it'll be like a sappy romance movie." Then, the doors closed. Once the sounds of the elevator's descent vanished, Clint slumped forward and covered his face with his hands.

"Come on, Clint, get back to folding! There's more over in the corner," Pepper scolded, noticing the man wasn't moving to continue his duties.

Had he been the whimpering type, he would have whimpered. Instead, Clint heaved a sigh and walked over. He sat down and began to fold clothes; again he had an attitude and just threw the clothes down when they were folded because...well...who wouldn't have an attitude after that?

At least Natasha was still texting him.

_What did he say?_

_That you're coming home at the end of the month and that I have a meeting with him tomorrow._

_Oh, I already knew that._

_What? Did you tell him first, Tasha?_

_He already knew it wasn't just rumors. I love you, Clint. Got to go._

He stared at his phone in disbelief. Of course he already knew. Fury probably just came to freak him out or something, or scare him into actually showing up the next day for the meeting. Clint continued to sit quietly.

Finally he just decided to get up and, grabbing his bow, he turned to Tony.

"I'm going shooting. You can't stop me. I'm sick of folding clothes and blankets."

"Oh, let me go with you!"

"You'll blow the targets up!"

"I was kidding, Katniss." Tony crossed his arms.

"It's not even lunch time, Stark. Don't start with me this early. I'll be back in like two hours."

Pepper gave Tony a hard look. They let the archer leave the room and then sat down together at the counter.

"Can I have breakfast now?" Tony asked. "Actually, I won't wait for your answer." And with that, he stood up and promptly burned an entire pan of bacon.\

* * *

_**Shinzu**_ : Hey guys! Woo new chapter! Rakei helped edit and wrote Fury for me, so go check out her stuff. u.u Chapters will most likely be longer in the future, ahah. Thanks for all the favorites and reviews guys!


	3. Recruits

There had been one floor in Stark Tower that Tony built just for practice. There were obstacle courses, targets, and demon robots that came out of nowhere and were specifically programmed for different battle styles. Clint had spent nearly three hours shooting robots through the head or chest, pausing only when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Of course it was Natasha, finally on a short break or responding when she could. She voiced what Clint was thinking- were they even going to be good parents? Clint already claimed full responsibility if the child ever brought arrows to school, but even that sounded preposterous and silly in normal, everyday life.

The archer leaned against the wall and watched the destruction taking place. If one wire got knocked out of place, that robot would go crazy and start destroying things like other robots. One knocked the head off the other while all the others teamed up to destroy the faulty one, and a huge battle took place; eventually, no robot stood.

_We'll be fine, Tasha. At least, I think we will._

_Hopefully, Clint, hopefully._

_Maybe he'll like to shoot._

_He? No, no, I'm quite positive our baby is going to be a girl._

_And how are you so positive? We'll have to find out when you get back._

"Girl, sang a voice from the doorway to the practice room. Clint spun around and huffed air out of his nose when he saw Stark leaning against the door frame.

"God damn it, Tony."

"Steve and Bruce think so, too."

"You're kidding me."

"Nope."

Clint resisted the urge to kick Tony. Obviously he was alone now, so he decided it would be smart to start mentally preparing for the onslaught of pink. He pushed away from the wall and lifted his bow, striking a target right in the center. Tony followed him around the room, picking up the pieces of robot that Clint mercilessly destroyed. They stood in awkward silence for a moment until Tony opened his big mouth.

"You should name it Toni."

"I am not naming my child after a sarcastic jerk," Clint sighed, notching another arrow.

"That hurt, Legolas. It really, really hurt." Stark put a hand over his arc reactor, a look of mock pain on his face. The archer rolled his eyes and let his arrow fly. Then, he froze, gripping his bow tightly in his hand. He slowly looked over his shoulder and cocked an eyebrow.

"See what I mean by sarcastic jerk?" This time it was Tony s turn to roll his eyes.

"What s got your wings all bent out of shape, Hawk? You were quite okay this morning," Tony pointed out. Clint said nothing, stalking toward the door. "Miss your girlfriend?"

"Oh, no, I'm waiting with patience and glee until she comes back," Clint hissed.

"And you called ME sarcastic."

The archer rubbed his temple with his free hand. He strolled through the door and went to the elevator; Tony stayed back, looking at his robots with a look that said, 'improvements.'

For the rest of the day, Natasha had to continue with her mission. Clint was not happy with her being in Russia at the moment, but he knew that the woman was able to take care of herself, and he had no need to worry about her. The next day was a day, however, that Clint wanted her there.

* * *

Clint zipped up his black jacket and folded his bow, placing it and his quiver neatly in a bag. Throughout the morning, he had been silent as ever, back to his normal, blank-faced self. Tony looked hurt and tried to get a smile out of him, but he gave up after a while and went to work on his robots, allowing Clint a moment to plot out his grand entrance to the Shield base.

_Thank God it s not raining_, he thought to himself. When he had woken, Natasha had sent him a quick good morning text and now he sent to her a text that told her he was training newbies. Fury may have just wanted to talk to him, but numerous times he had been called in for a meeting and ended up training newbies afterwards.

Climbing through a window was pointless as all the agents seemed to be _everywhere_. He jumped through and landed on a platform, stalking through a crowd of recruits who seemed to be lost. As he walked to Fury's office, he threw his bag at a veteran agent, trusting him to at least get it in his locker. He approached the big, frosted glass door that lead into the director s office, took a moment to collect himself, and then pushed the door open unceremoniously.

"I see you finally bothered to come, Fury grunted. His gaze was fixed on the archer, his hands folded neatly on top of his desk. "Sit."

Clint did not move.

"Quiet today." Fury stood and crossed his arms. He strolled forward, staring down at the archer. "Now that Tony has given out Agent Romanov's status, we are going to have people left and right taking advantage of the situation."

He was snappy with Clint all because of what Tony did? Why was Fury not yelling at Tony then?

Whatever. Clint quietly met Fury's gaze. "I didn't expect Stark to do that, sir."

"Oh _really_. You really didn't think that Tony would open his big mouth?"

_Well, sir, I had been playing video games and did not see the light of day for a week straight. Obviously my mind was somewhere else_- Clint gritted his teeth, shoving that thought away. If Clint started to be a smart ass now, Fury was definitely going to end up punishing him. Instead, the archer shifted his weight to his other foot, keeping his gaze locked with Fury's.

"Natasha will be fine," Clint said. "She has taken care of herself in tougher situations."

"This is a very _different_ situation, Barton."

Clint nodded.

"We will be keeping an eye on the tower," Fury said when the silence began to be unsettling. Taking that as a sign to leave, Clint turned and walked out the door.

"Recruits are on the third floor training room. Have fun." Clint froze, his hand wrapped around the door knob. Then, he nodded curtly, gave a formal goodbye, and exited the office.

First he went to his locker. He took out his bow and grabbed his quiver, kicking the door shut with his foot. When he entered the training room, recruits jumped to their feet, looks of fear on their faces. Training newbies sucked, but their reactions to meeting their teacher ("Oh my God is that HAWKEYE?") were hilarious. Everything was fine, until suddenly everyone stopped and began pestering Clint with questions. At the same time, his phone went off.

_How's training, Clint?_

_These newbies keep asking me about you, oh my God._

Clint scaled a wall and perched on a platform. He crouched, his elbows resting on the railing as he tapped away at his phone and kept an eye on the recruits.

_They're just curious._

_I know they are, but I'm supposed to be training them basics for the next week until Fury finds another agent to take over. It's as if I m the only available agent not in the middle of freaking Arizona._

_The southwest is full of UFO sightings, dear._

_Oh, you know what Tony said today? He wanted us to name our child Toni._

_Even he believes it'll be a girl? See, Clint, you're alone, why haven't you been swayed to our side? Anyway, start thinking up names, okay? Got to go._

He sighed. _Yeah, I've got to continue with the recruits. Later, Tasha._

Oh, he could not wait until Natasha came home. Originally she was supposed to be in Russia for an entire year and he knew how much she loved Russia (mission or not), but...he worried, deep down. She was pregnant- Fury was right, people were going to take advantage of her if word got out.

A loud screech reached his ears.

"STOP IT!"

"Oh come on, it's a spider."

"A SHIELD SPIDER, FORREST!"

"Jesus Christ, Kelly, calm down."

"MR. BARTON!"

Clint grimaced when another girl screamed. He swung down and landed lightly on his feet, padding toward the screaming group. With a blank face he smacked the poor spider out of the young man's hand and stomped on it.

"There, it's gone."

"Wasn't that the same type of the spider that bit that Parker kid...?" whispered a girl.

"I think it was..." replied a few others.

"Yes, yes, Shield got an entire box full of these spiders to study, some are going to get out- now calm down!" Clint covered his face with his hands. Instead of getting angry at them, he turned and walked away. "We're going to practice stealth now! Everyone hide!"

Like eggs, the 30 recruits in the room scrambled. Some hid better than others, and some were unable to hide at all; these 30 young men and women, however, were the best out of a large group Fury had been keeping an eye on, so Clint cut them some slack.

Clint lifted his bow and shot an arrow through a low hanging target.

"First one to get that without me seeing them wins," he said.

"Carter! Keep your head down! You're out."

"Goth girl- saw your boots, go sit down!"

An hour later, that girl who had been screaming about the spider, Kelly, was the first one to grab the arrow. A boy that Clint heard was Forrest chased her around the training room; she leaped up boxes and scaled the walls, leaped down onto the floor and swung across ropes strung to the rafters. Clint was impressed- a gymnast, that was rare. He was watching their wild goose chase with such intent that he let out a quiet yelp when his phone vibrated an alert. It was nearly six in the evening now, the time that the recruits got to go home.

"Forrest, Kelly! It s a tie, we re done here. Everyone can go home."

The ginger stopped running; Kelly clung to a rope, a smirk on her face, the arrow clenched in her teeth. She looked up as Clint told the recruits that the day was over; her face paled and she screeched, letting the arrow drop to the floor.

"Jesus Christ, Kelly!" Forrest called up, stooping down to grab the arrow.

She slipped, her hands burning on the rope as she slid down. Clint's gaze followed the rope all the way to the rafters. At least twelve spiders were crawling down the rope. Kelly let go of the rope and landed on the floor, sprinting out of the room. The archer was the last to leave, taking time to fold his bow and grab his quiver. None of the scientists seemed to know about the spiders, so he set out to the labs, warned whoever was in there, and left the base.

_Well, today was interesting, Tasha._

He surprisingly got a reply back.

_I bet. New recruits?_

_Yeah. They were freaking out about spiders. Seems your distant cousin is in town! Haha. How's Russia?_

_Beautiful. However, I'm here for Shield purposes- can't really enjoy it._

_We'll have to go there when the baby's old enough, then. I bet he'll love Russia._

_She'll love Russia. Sounds like a plan, though. Thought up any names? You should tell me them in a few days._

_Oh, I bet it's late there, huh? You're probably heading to bed, so I'll leave you alone._

_Yeah, and tomorrow's an important day. Good night, Clint._

_Night.  
_

* * *

_**Shinzu :**_Okay, hah, hi guys! Thanks for all the reviews and follows, they really make my day! Anyways, thanks again to Rakei for looking over this for me. This would be riddled with punctuation errors and stupid typos had I not sent it to her because, guess what, I don't proofread my stuff. -Facepalm- I hope you enjoy! And please don't hate me in future chapters.


	4. Pink

It was the next weekend, and Clint was finally done with the basics with the recruits. He had actually grown to like two of them- Kelly and Forrest- and was finally pleased with the group; they were quick learners and were a joy to teach. Though he told Hill that he would gladly come back again for that group, he had not been called in that weekend, and was the only Avenger left at the tower. Tony, Bruce, and Steve were off doing God knows what, having left long before Clint woke up.

This left Clint in an odd situation. He was unable to cook on solo missions he always had granola bars or cans of whatever, and on team missions someone else always cooked for him when that option was available. There was one time he was not paying attention and he left a fork in the microwave. Another time he had completely set a steak on fire. Clint could make cookies and only slightly burn them, but cookies were not lunch. Lunch was the can of Spaghetti-Os sitting on the counter, taunting him.

_You can do it, Clint. Just don't put the can in the microwave this time._

_I know, I know. Just watch as it spontaneously sets on fire._

He ran a hand through his hair and emptied the contents into a bowl. As he waited for a response from Natasha, he set the bowl in the microwave and shut the door. So far so good. His phone vibrated then and he took the phone from his pocket.

_So, what names have you thought up?_

_Um. Well, which do you want to hear first?_

_Girl, please._

_Jade or Cassandra._

_I like Cassandra. Have you thought up a middle name?_

_Crap. No._

_Let's hear the boy names, then._

Clint put his phone down on the counter so he could key in the amount of time he wanted his meal to cook. He hit start and grabbed his phone again.

_Drake, Josh, Jason... But I really like a name that Tony suggested._

_Tony suggested it? Please tell me he didn't suggest Tony._

_No, he didn't. He suggested Eric._

_I like how simple it is. And you know what? I think I have a good idea for a middle name._

_Really? Let s hear it, then._

_Phil._

He froze. It had been a while since he thought about that man. The nightmares had finally stopped and he was able to walk into Shield without zoning out completely. Clint stared down at that little text message, his eyebrows furrowed. Natasha would go and do that, but Clint was...happy. If the baby was a boy, it would...be a good tribute to a friend.

He was shaken back to reality by the sound of the microwave beeping. He opened the door and pulled out the bowl. He snatched a fork out of a drawer, bumped it shut with his hip, and collapsed on the couch.

_Yeah, I like that. Maybe a Russian middle name for Cassandra?_

_I'm glad you do. And I'll think about it. Sounds like a good idea._

_Haha, yeah. Hey, Tasha, I made Spaghetti-Os!_

_Good job, Clint. I'm proud of you. Maybe we can get a plaque that reads "Clint made Spaghetti-Os" and put it over our bed._

Clint laughed. He put his phone down when Natasha said she had to go again, and plowed through his bowl of Spaghetti-Os. Who said he needed to learn how to cook- their kid would be just fine living off of sandwiches, fruit, and hotdogs.

He stood up and placed his bowl in the sink. Then, he ended up next was the windows, looking up at the cloudless sky. Eventually Tony and the others would be back, so he took a deep breath and went back to the couch.

* * *

"Come on- let's play Legend of Zelda."

"Why would I play that with you?"

"Because you're Link."

"I shoot a bow and use daggers. I'm pretty sure I don't use a slingshot or boomerang or whip or sword or anything."

Clint pounded his forehead with the heel of his palm. Oh yeah, Tony had come back, but Bruce and Steve were nowhere to be found. Clint suspected that something was up. The archer did not want to do anything with Tony, so he simply walked away, back down the hall to where the door of his room was. What he found when he opened the door was not a small room with a few targets on the walls, like he had expected. Oh, no, his room had been completely stuffed with pink blankets. Lovely.

"Bruce!" Clint exclaimed. "Steve!"

Too late. He had already tried plowing into his room, and when he turned around, Jarvis had shut and locked the door from the outside. Huffing, he tried to dig through the blankets, finding himself at the ceiling with just enough room to crouch down without hitting his head.

He could see all the way across to the other wall. His loft bed was completely covered, and blankets had been pinned over all of the targets scattered across his ceiling.

_You will never believe what Tony, Bruce, and Steve did, Tasha._

_Dare I ask?_

_My entire flipping room is filled almost to the ceiling with pink blankets._

_Clint, why can't you accept the fact that our baby is going to be a girl?_

_Because I know it's going to be a boy, YOUR OBJECTION IS INVALID. I just did a sassy hand flick._

_Oh God Clint, no, no sassy hand flicks._

_I'm teaching our child all of my Hawksass._

_Fine, if you teach her your obnoxious behavior, I get to train her while using you as a target._

He grinned like a moron, but when he looked up from his phone that grin disappeared. He sat there for what felt like hours (when in reality it was only 40 minutes) and then heaved a sigh. "Jarvis, unlock the door," he said, burrowing back to the ground. The door clicked open as he neared it and he stomped out.

Suddenly he came face to face with a blonde girl. It was Kelly, her brown eyes dark, a nervous look on her face. In her hand was a bag.

"H-hello, Mr. Barton," Kelly squeaked, backing up. Clint raised an eyebrow. "I um...well...me and Forrest...we um...sew. We made this for..."

She held up the bag and Clint took it, slightly confused. Kelly disappeared without Clint noticing- another reason Fury had chosen her as a recruit. He held the plastic bag at his side as he stormed through the halls, but finally his curiosity got the best of him. Digging through, he grabbed something soft and pulled it out. It was a small, incredibly soft blue blanket with patches of purple and the outlines of birds stitched all over. He looked stunned for a moment, but inside he was freaking out that he finally got a _blue_ blanket. Not pink. Blue.

"I knew there was a reason I liked her..." Clint mused before stuffing it back in the bag. He would have placed it in his room, but seeing as he could hardly get into it, he kept it at his side as he stormed through he tower. Workers had to leap out of the way, because Clint would surely plow them down had they not.

Eventually, he found that Tony, Bruce, and Steve were in the suite at the top of the tower. Tony was playing Legend of Zelda, while Bruce looked over papers, and Steve stared in wonder. Sure, it had been three years since he was melted, but old habits die hard.

Clint placed his bag on the counter and stomped up to Tony, snatching the Wiimote out of his hand.

"Hey- what was that for- stop!"

After giving Tony a good smack on the head, Clint pulled back on the controller and Link shot an arrow through an enemy without Clint even having to study the screen.

"Okay, that could have been me had Bruce not taken your bow away yesterday," Tony said, watching the enemy collapse on the screen. He sighed and turned to look at the archer with a dull look. "Now what do you want, Link?"

"Who put the blankets- oh, hold on."

Clint took his phone out of his pocket as his ringtone went off and answered it.

"Hello?"

_"Is this Clint Barton?"_

"Yeah...why?"

Tony's eyebrows furrowed when he saw all the color drain from Clint's face.

_"I'm an agent at a Shield base in Russia. I've been told to inform you that half an hour ago, Natasha Romanov was shot."_

* * *

**_Shinzu_****_:_** Omg, sorry for the cliff hanger. I thought it was a great way to end the chapter, bahaha. BD You all are awesome and should go check out Rakei's stuff because she's an awesome editor and writer and stuff.**  
**


	5. Call Me Maybe?

Love was for children, she would always say. Love was for children. But, deep down, when one got to know the duo, they _were_ like children. Clint, when not hiding out at his perch or being a lifeless, robotic agent, would often make stupid jokes and puns, but only in the company of Natasha. She in turn would attempt to humor him back, occasionally cracking a few jokes of her own. Sometimes they would both get the day off together, and stupid shenanigans would occur; pranks on Jarvis, messing with Thor when he was in town, everything.

Those times had been important to Clint. They never got to really show their love beyond stupid, childish things (except a few nights), and he held onto them dearly. Of course few people knew before Tony made his big announcement; that was why when Clint got that call, he stayed completely and utterly silent. Days had passed and the man had spoken but few words. Something must have been wrong if a Shield doctor from Russia was calling him to bring on the bad news. Whenever a phone rang or vibrated, everyone could see the archer tense up and a nervous look cross his face. Bruce purposely started an experiment to lure Tony into the labs and leave Clint alone, thankfully, but that still did not get him off edge or calm him in the slightest.

On the third day after the call, Steve had offered to take Clint out for some real food (which did not include Spaghetti-Os, Hot Pockets, and instant ramen) and the man had grunted a reply, to which Rogers took as a yes. Now the two were lounging at a local steak house, Steve forking down food at a moderate pace while Clint sat back in his chair, staring off at nothing.

"She'll be fine," Steve said, gesturing widely. "They've got doctors with her and everything. She will be fine, your baby will be fine, they're in good care."

Clint shook his head. "I will stab whoever did that to her," he growled.

"There's no need for that." Steve frowned and reached for his glass of water. "I bet they already sent a team of trained assassins to go in and kill the shooter." Raising an eyebrow, he looked down at the plate in front of Clint. The food had not been touched.

The archer lazily poked his steak with a knife, his mind wandering. He knew that Steve had brought him out of the tower to distract him, but he could not help but think about Natasha.

"Clint, you need to eat," Steve said, pushing the plate a little closer to his friend. "It's been nearly three days since you've touched anything."

"I've gone longer, Rogers."

Steve gave Clint a disapproving look and sat back in his chair, resting his hands behind his head. "I haven't known Director Fury for long, but I am positive if it was anything worse than a grazed leg, he would have gone through some pretty drastic things by now."

Clint had to suck it up and realize that Steve was right. Fury would have called him in or informed him of what was going on. He sighed and stabbed his steak, not bothering to cut it while he ate.

"Fine, but if anything worse has happened, I will punch you so hard-" Clint gritted his teeth, remembering how strong Steve was. When he was younger and a recruit, everyone had been told about the great Captain America. Phil was always the guy who kept asking questions, he remembered with a grain of salt.

Out of nowhere his phone went off. Clint pulled it out of his back pocket. Steve was utterly stunned at the speed in which Clint pulled on his sunglasses, tore through the restaurant, and ran outside to answer the phone.

He answered as soon as he was outside.

"Tasha?"

"_Hey, Clint-"_

"Oh my God, you're okay. I mean, usually when you get shot you re fine, but I've never gotten a call from a doctor before and-"

"_Shh. Hey, I told them to call you. I refused to get any medical help until they did. Made it damn dramatic though, didn't they?_"

Clint let out a huge sigh of relief. "What happened? Are you okay? Nothing happen-"

"_I'm okay, the baby's okay. It was just my arm, and the bullet didn't even go that deep._" He heard a grumble. "_I was ambushed by a bunch of people in a security breech. Everything's fine now. They want me to stay at a hotel down the street until this weekend_."

"Good. I don't want you out there if you're going to get ambushed again. I- I just-"

"_You're adorable when you freak out._"

He slammed his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"_Oh dear. They're going to look at my arm before they release me. I'll call you in a few hours, okay?_"

Clint nodded before he realized that he was on the phone. "Alright. I'll talk to you tonight then."

Steve came strolling out of the restaurant with a to-go box in hand. He had a smile on his face, but Clint took it as a gesture meant to mock.

"Fine, you were right," he hissed. "Natasha is okay."

"That's great," Steve said, putting the box into Clint's hands. "I told you she would. Now, let's head to the store. I'm tired of you complaining about not having the right brand of sunflower seeds."

* * *

His room had finally been emptied of pink blankets. He sat on his bed against the pillows and read his books, not interested in what Tony and Bruce were doing or what Steve was making in the kitchen. The current book he was reading was a book about the end of the world; earlier he had finished a book that Natasha suggested, even if it was cheesy (he had no need to read a book on how to be a good father, damn it).

Next to him on the bed was his phone, the box of food from a few hours before, his bow, and the TV remote. The room itself was devoid of everything; his clothes were neatly placed in dressers against the wall, and his bed was always neatly made. Even the targets on the walls- just decoration- were clean and neat.

It was funny how he had an entire floor of Stark Tower to himself and he chose to have walls built for a room that barely fit a teenager. The rest of the floor was a huge obstacle course for him and Natasha to blow through, but by personal request of Natasha a few more walls were being built for a nursery.

Blegh, this was all so weird to him.

Today was Wednesday, Natasha was coming home Sunday. Clint was sure it was a 'classified' reason that she could not come home now and leave Shield to do what they wanted. At least she would be home and safe.

His phone went off next to him, and he reached over blindly, not looking up from his book. He hit the 'Accept' button and pressed the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" he asked, wrinkling his brow. "Oh, hey Tasha."

"_Do you ever check your caller ID, Clint?_"

"Hardly."

Natasha sighed. "_Okay, doctors offered to do an ultrasound before I leave today, but I didn't know if you want to be there or not so I'm asking you now._"

He hesitated. He would have loved to be there, but if she wanted... "Um I'd rather be there, but if you want to

"_I'll wait then. I can't wait to rub it in your face when it's a girl._"

"Oh, dear Tasha, it will be a boy."

"_If it's a boy you can paint the room with hawks. But you won't be, because I'll be painting it pink_."

Clint laughed dryly. "Did I tell you that Fury thinks it'll be a boy?" he asked. "I was honestly stunned; I thought he would have hated the 'snot-nosed brat'."

"Can't stop curiosity."

"I guess you can't."

Tony came pounding on the door at that very moment. Clint sighed and yelled at Jarvis to lock the door, but Tony yelled back and came barging in. The two assassins quickly hung up.

"What do you want, Stark?"

"I can't check up on my dear friend?" Tony asked. He rolled his eyes when Clint continued to give him a blank look. "Anyway, dinner's done and Steve wants you to come eat. Don't worry, I promise not to take your phone." He held up his hands, giving a somewhat convincing look.

Narrowing his eyes, the archer got off the bed and placed his book down. He followed Tony to the elevator and up they went, all the way to the penthouse and to the couch. Clint sat down with his arms crossed and watched everyone gather around. Pepper had come back from a meeting in a different state and greeted Clint enthusiastically.

As she recounted her adventures of the meeting to Tony, Bruce scooted closer to Clint.

"What's up?" Clint asked.

"Feel better after Natasha called?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah." Clint hung his head so his chin rested against his chest. "She was hit in the arm with a bullet is all. The people should already be caught."

Bruce smiled. "That's good, then," he said, "though I've never thought Natasha would be ambushed."

Clint opened his eyes and pointed to Tony. "There was a security breech at one of the smaller Russian Shield bases involving a bunch of people that heard about his GREAT announcement."

Confused, Pepper gave Tony a look.

"Well, that's not important at the moment," Bruce began with a sheepish chuckle. "Steve and I assumed you guys have no idea what you're doing- seeing as you're assassins with many personalities and all- so we bought some furniture for you guys."

The archer perked up. "I hope to GOD a crib is included in that statement."

Steve nodded.

"Thank God."

"We could have panted it pink-"

Clint groaned.

"-but we decided to keep it white."

He again let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks," he mumbled. "Didn't even cross my mind-"

"And probably wouldn't have until the kid was like three months old, I bet!"

"Tony, shut up."

Clint threw his arm out, punching Tony hard in the shoulder. They gave each other a stare down until Pepper huffed and separated the two. She sat in between them with one leg crossed over the other, her salad resting neatly on her knee.

"I can't wait for Natasha to get back," she said with longing in her voice. "Sucks being the only girl here."

"Aw, did you and Clint get into a fight?" Tony asked.

"Do I need to snap your fingers again-" Clint gritted his teeth.

"NO," Bruce said, waving his hand to grab the others' attention. "No one will be snapping anyone's fingers. Natasha will be home soon, and you know how much she gets irritated by your constant arguing."

The two men looked away from each other, Tony only because he was looking for where he put the head of a robot he was working on. Clint leaned his head back.

It was going to be a long four days.

* * *

That night, Natasha was unable to sleep. She and Clint were texting each other back and forth about how the mission was going, how everyone was, and how much money should be put in a bet on how soon Bruce would Hulk out again. They were going on for quite a while, until Natasha brought up what seemed like an important topic.

_Whose last name is the baby going to have?_

Clint spit out his drink.

_Shit, I haven't even thought of it._

He wiped his mouth with the back of his jacket sleeve and looked up at the stars above. He was bored in his room and Tony had taken over all the TVs, so his last resort had been sitting on the balcony in the cool air. Without Natasha there, the lights below would entertain him and help pass the time.

Ignoring the next text he got from Natasha, he began to type another. After a few times of erasing and redoing, he finally settled on one.

_Well, he's going to have my last name because YOU'RE MY WIFE NOW YOLO_

Clint could practically see the unimpressed look on Natasha's face.

_Did you...just...propose through TEXT?_

_...yes..._

_You know, I kind of expected something a little more grand seeing as I'm the one carrying your child._

He heaved a sigh, though he was unable to conceal the grin on his face.

_I know, I know, but I'm just not the kind of guy who enjoys getting on his knee. It's hawkward._

_Yeah, it is a little awkward, I guess. A quiet proposal...I like it._

_I promise not to make it loud or anything._

For a while he stared out into the city. He was just about to stand up when he felt someone come up close to him.

"Clint, what are you doing out so late?" Steve asked. "We've called your name to come in nearly 12 times."

The archer pointed to his ears and gave a look that said, 'wow you really forgot huh'. Steve crouched next to him and held onto the railing.

"Sorry, I forgot your hearing was worse than a snake's," he said, dropping his free hand in his lap. "What are you doing out here?"

Clint shrugged. "Proposing to Tasha," he mumbled. Had it been anyone but Steve, he would have said nothing.

A grin appeared on Steve's face. "Finally."

Apparently Clint had not heard, so Steve stood up and walked back to the tower. He would give the man a few hours alone.

* * *

_**Shinzu**_ : Oh my gosh, um, hey, hi. How are all of you? Hm, I feel like Clint keeps getting out of character, so I ask you guys to tell me what you think. He's got such little time in the movie that I don't know what to do! I've got him as the kind of guy who can be quiet at some points or loud when it's appropriate, but silent and obedient with Shield.

Thanks again to Rakei who's been helping me! This would have been so bad without her help.


	6. Coming Home

"Clint, you need to stop pacing." Steve eyed the uneasy assassin as he spun on his heel and stalked across the length of the floor-to-ceiling window and then repeated the process over and over. He'd been like this for the past two hours, pacing and pacing without looking away from the streets below. The only words he spoke were to tell people to stop telling him what to do. But after a while, Barton had stopped opening his mouth all together and he now walked in silence, studying the ground with impenetrable focus. It was starting worry everyone- even Fury, who had literally tried to shake Clint from his stupor. When the archer was unfazed by the attempt, Fury knew it was for the best if everyone let him be, but it seemed that no one could. They were just too worried about him.

"C'mon, you've been doing this for hours. Watching the streets like a hawk isn't going to make her get here any faster," Tony Stark said as he poured himself a drink at the bar in the corner of the penthouse.

"He's Hawkeye, it's what he does," Bruce said from the couch where he was studying a series of graphs on his laptop. "Plus I'm pretty sure you'd be pretty anxious if your pregnant fiance was returning from Russia after four months." Everyone's head whipped around when they noticed a stutter in Clint's pacing. He froze a moment, eyes still locked on the street, and then resumed, tensely running a hand through his hair. The room was silent for quite some time, the only sound being the tinkling noise of ice hitting the sides of Stark's glass. He collapsed on the couch next to Banner and peered over at the charts, pointing and talking under his breath to the man. All the while, Steve stood in the middle of the room, arms crossed, staring at the assassin critically. Sure, he understood the man's anxiety, but he was worrying everyone around him and it seemed a bit selfish.

"Friends!" shouted a voice from behind. The men spun around all except Clint, of course to see Thor standing in the doorway, arms thrown out wide. "Why are we all gathered here? Is there a meeting that I have not been alerted of?"

"No, Katniss over there is having separation anxiety from his girlfriend," Stark sighed gesturing with his drink. Barton didn't seem to hear and kept his concentration out the window.

"Is today the day of Natasha's return?" Thor asked, blinking in surprise. "I was unaware. He must be quite anxious."

"Yes, and that's why he's pacing. No one can get him to stop for anything, so we re just waiting until he snaps out of it,"Bruce said quietly, glancing up from his charts for a moment. "We're hoping it's soon. We weren't given a definite time of when Natasha would get here, but he's been at that window for two hours."

"Should I try and stop him?" Thor's question was barely even a question at all, however, for the god approached the archer without waiting for a response from the other Avengers. He seized the man by the shoulders, halting him. "Barton, you must cease this pacing at once!" Thor put a hand under the agent's chin and forced him to look into his eyes. "You are worrying your companions."

"Let go," Clint grunted. He strained to get away from Thor's grasp, but the blonde was having none of it. If anything, he held him tighter.

"Not until you agree to stop staring out this window like a distraught fool," Thor replied harshly. Barton's eyes narrowed slightly and his gaze flicked back down to the street. Suddenly, his eyes flew open wide and, with a burst of unexpected strength, the man yanking himself away from Thor and practically flew to the elevator door and disappeared, leaving the others sitting in the room blinking, stunned, wondering what had just happened.

"I think Natasha is home," Tony said, grunting as he stood from the couch. He stretched, downed the rest of his drink, and then strode over to the elevator and pressed the down button. "JARVIS, is Agent Romanov here?"

"Yes, sir, it appears she is," the robot responded. Thor, Steve, and Bruce joined Tony at the shiny silver door as the elevator arrived on their floor. They stepped inside, pressed the button to the lobby, and the zoomed downwards to greet the returning agent.

Clint had been waiting for this moment for four long months. Even more so over the past two weeks, when Natasha had confessed over text that she was pregnant and had only now discovered it during a routine check-up during her mission. The man's only response was to ask her to marry him. Now he had clutched in his hand as he raced down the hall towards the main lobby entrance a ring which he was meaning to slip onto the redhead's finger. But first he had to get past the initial excitement of just seeing her beautiful face again.

He rounded the corner and saw a man pulling open the door for an exhausted looking woman in a fine-pressed suit. She had a purse over her shoulder and a suitcase wheeling behind her and she looked like any other business woman that entered the tower every day, but her curly red hair gave her away and Clint knew immediately that it Natasha- his Natasha. Somehow he managed to run even faster and he skidded across the waxed tile floor and slammed into his fiance hard enough that her purse flew off of her shoulder. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and instinctively she did the same, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"Tasha," was all the man could manage to say and the only response he got was the woman wrapping her arms further around him and whispering his name into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a long time- long enough for the other Avengers to gather around them- and for people to stop staring at them in confusion. Clint could stand like this forever, inhaling the scent of her shampoo and soap and perfume and all of the smells that made her her. They wouldn't have to talk or move or anything. They'd just have to stand there and cling to each other and Clint would be happy. But he knew he had to pull away so he could slip this ring around her finger and kiss her breathless. So, that's what he did. Clint pulled away to stare into Natasha's eyes and offer a small smile before uncurling the hand that held the ring. The woman stared at it then flicked her eyes up to the man's, which were shining brightly as he grabbed her hand and slipped the ring onto her left ring finger. It was a perfect fit, just as Clint knew it would be.

"Hey, I did propose, didn't I?" Clint whispered to her as he rested his forehead on hers. "And I did promise I wouldn't make a huge deal out of it by getting on one knee and proclaiming my love for you for the world to hear."

"Yeah, you did," Natasha replied, her voice sounding a bit breathless. Clint chuckled, knowing that she was probably shocked. "So we're engaged?"

"It appears that way." With that, Clint brought his hands up to cradle her face and gently pressed his lips to hers. She probably hated this public display of affection especially right in the main lobby of a highly-trafficked tower in front of their teammates but that was the last thing on the archer's mind as he felt the female assassin kiss him back and trail a hand up his back to tangle itself in his hair. Damn, he'd missed this.

"Ahem, excuse me." Clint recognized the voice but chose to ignore it. Fury could piss off- he just wanted to kiss his fiance and then get in the elevator and kiss her some more and then bring her to her room and help her unpack and kiss her as they passed each other on trips from the suitcase to the closet and then fall asleep with her cuddled up next to him and not wake up until the sun was at its highest. Then he wanted to cook breakfast for her and ask her about her mission and- "I hate to intrude on this _heartwarming_ moment." Two hands pushed the couple apart, just far enough that their lips could no longer meet.

"Then don't," Clint hissed at the man. He was quick to clamp his mouth shut, though, as he noticed the frightening expression on Fury's face. "Er what s wrong?"

"We need to get Agent Romanov to SHIELD so she can be examined by the doctors." The director's eyes glanced down at Natasha's stomach and then returned to meet Clint's gaze. "Since, you know, she s been without proper care for four months." The archer seemed to deflate slightly, but he nodded in agreement. He knew that she needed to be checked on and that this was a doctor's appointment that the agent needed to make alone. So, he took her suitcase from her, pecked her cheek, and smiled warmly as she sighed and turned back towards the door again.  
"I'll see you in a little bit, Clint," Natasha called over her shoulder. "Keep my side of the bed warm for me." She winked and then disappeared from the archer s sight, leaving him smiling dumbly at the glass door.

"Wow, champ," Tony whistled from behind him. "Good job there."

"Shut up, Stark," Clint said absentmindedly as the memory of Natasha's lips pressed against his coursed through his mind. Now that she was home, Clint could be completely and truly happy.

* * *

They sat silence. Tension filled the air; one of them was grinning like a moron, the other had her arms crossed with a look of anger on her face. Finally, after she came home, she went to her appointment, and a few days later, they went to find out the gender of their baby. Clint could not have been happier because now he could put hawks all over the nursery. Yes, against everything everyone was saying, their baby was a boy.

Natasha was just angry their baby was not a girl, but she did love him nonetheless and did not think of him any differently.

"I told you so," Clint said with a stupid grin.

"_Fuck you_, Clint."

"I love you, Tasha."

"Love you, too."

Again they went into silence. Clint frowned for a moment, and then grinned ever so slightly. "Eric Phil Barton. I like it. Nice ring to it, don't you think?"

With a sigh, Natasha nodded and closed her eyes, leaning head head back on the couch. "Yes, it is a good name," she said. "I'm glad we chose it."

Clint reached over and poked her stomach.

"What the hell are you doing, Clint?" She lifted her head and looked at him.

"I don't know."

"Is this one of those moments where you're so happy you have no idea what the heck you are doing?" The corner of Natasha's lip turned up in a smirk. Her eyebrows furrowed and she reached over to grab Clint's hand, resting her other hand on her stomach. "Feel that?" she asked as she placed Clint's hand next to hers.

His face was blank for a split second and then a grin appeared on his face. The baby kicked.

"Looks like he waited for dad," Natasha said with a light chuckle. Clint wrapped his arms around Natasha's shoulders and buried his face in her hair.

"Looks like he did."

The assassin leaned into Clint's embrace, a smile on her face. "It's good to be home," she said.

* * *

_**Shinzu**_ : GIVE THANKS TO THE WONDERFUL RAKEI! She wrote the first part of the chapter a few weeks ago, and I asked if I could use it, and she let me. Isn't her writing wonderful?

And Clint got what he wanted. :'D Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Thanks for all the reviews and follows.


	7. An Old Friend

The nursery had finally been finished about a week later, on a Wednesday. Clint and Natasha walked into the room; it was bright with lots of windows and a large closet and enough room for the furniture Bruce and Steve had gotten them. The only problem now was that everything was stark white- even the carpet. Clint had gone out that morning and brought home different cans of paint so they could decide on a color to paint everything.

Natasha knelt down and opened one that said, "FROM TONY" at the top. Her face was deadpan as she lifted the lid and set it on the piece of tarp she had next to her.

"I'm going to punch him," Clint hissed. The pink paint in the can was so bright he had to look away. "No way are we using pink."

"Are you gender stereotyping our son?" Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow. "What if he likes pink, hm?"

Shaking his head, Clint used a screw driver to pop off the top of another can. "No son of mine will have a room that is bright pink," he said. "No DAUGHTER of mine will have a room that is bright pink."

Natasha sighed. "You are hard to please, Clint."

The man gave a smug smile and placed the lid of his can on the tarp. "There's a dark blue here," he said. "That must mean that the other cans-" he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. "-are two different shades of purple and one red."

After closing the can of pink paint, Natasha stood up and walked to the other cans. Just as she was about to kneel down and open one, Steve appeared at the entrance of the room and knocked lightly on the doorway.

"You guys have a few visitors," Steve announced. He stepped to the side and gestured to someone in the hallway. A short blonde girl came in with a large box in her arms and behind her was a tall ginger carrying two more. SHIELD was on the sides of the boxes, and that caused both assassins to look at each other in confusion.

"Hi Mr. Barton," Kelly said with a smile. She turned and started when she saw Natasha. "H-hello..."

"They are the two I was telling you about, Natasha," Clint said, looking back at her. "Kelly Cline and Forrest Weiss."

Forrest set down his boxes and crossed his arms. The two had gotten standard uniforms now, which meant they had been passing all the tests, but what they were doing away from the base was a question Clint almost did not want to ask.

"We brought gifts, courtesy of all the recruits in Mr. Barton's class...and the other agents." Forrest kicked a box off the top of the tower and it spilled open; Natasha let her head fall back and she covered her face, but Clint let out a chuckle. The entire box- and probably the other two, also- had been packed full of stuffed hawks. They were all different colors, shapes, and sizes.

The archer covered his face and tried to stifle his laughs. "They really take my code name seriously." He reached down and picked up a hawk, tossing another to Natasha. "They're really soft."

"Oh, th-this...one's from Fury..." Kelly said, opening the box she had brought. The hawk inside it was very soft and plush- it was a Pillow Pet in the shape of a hawk.

"Fury," Natasha said bluntly. "Fury as in the man who hates 'snot-nosed brats' and wants nothing to do with them." She stood up and took the Pillow Pet. The entire time her face was as blank as if she was back at Shield.

Forrest shrugged. "We're just following orders," he said as he adjusted his hat. "We've got to head back now. See you later, Mr. Barton. Bye Miss Romanov." Kelly gave a weak, somewhat terrified smile and scurried out of the room after her friend.

To help out, Steve piled the stuffed hawks back into the box and set them in a neat pile against the wall in the hall. Pepper had come in a few minutes afterwards in an attempt to help them chose a color for the room. All she could do was sigh when the assassins got into a quiet argument over the colors of blue and red. Since she assumed Tony would have a new carpet in here soon, Pepper knew he wouldn t mind if she got the current one a bit messy. She picked up an open can of purple paint and splashed it all over the nearest wall.

The assassins' jaws dropped in shock.

"Dark purple with blue and red hawks painted on the walls," Pepper said with a smile. "It works, correct?"

"Hmph, I guess it does," Clint said. He looked at his watch and then he glanced at the girls. "I'll throw the colors we don't need into my closet and go pick up more."

Natasha nodded. "Alright, I'll see you when you get back, alright?"

When he turned and left, a sly smile appeared on her face. Pepper stood back and Natasha strolled to the door, closed it, and locked it. Steve, who had been standing in the room at the time, opened his mouth to say something, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Quiet, Steve," Natasha said smoothly. "You're going to help us, okay?"

* * *

Clint came home with a few more cans of the same color. They were planning to work on the room slowly but surely, at their own time, so they did not need a whole lot right away. He scratched the side of his head and pulled his sunglasses up as he stepped into the building.

Up and up and up, and finally he reached his floor. He stepped out of the elevator and wandered down the hall, reaching out to grab the door handle. Suddenly he stopped, a look of worry on his face.

"Natasha?" he called. The door was locked and he could not hear anything inside (then again, this is Clint and he could not hear anything to save his life). "Hey, Natasha, are you in there?"

Again, there was nothing. He could have broken down the door, but that would be inconvenient and Tony would probably punch him. Clint sighed and placed the cans down on the floor. He leaned against the wall and waited for a long while until the door was finally opened.

"I'm surprised you didn't hear Pepper's giggling," Natasha said with a look. She took a step to the side and Clint walked in, not sure what he was expecting anymore.

"Oh- oh, I see how you are," Clint breathed, looking around the room. In the single hour he had been gone, the girls- and Steve- had covered the entire room with purple paint and silly silhouettes of all the Avengers and hawks in different colors. "Did you-"

Natasha smiled and leaned against Clint, her head against his chest. "We had paint in the closet," she said. "You are so oblivious."

He rubbed her back, running a hand through her hair. Clint knew that anything more than that would be a little uncomfortable to the assassin, who was unused to showing even the slightest affection around others. "I'll get you back eventually," he said. "Just you watch." Natasha did not see it, but a frown crossed his face as he thought of the next few days.

* * *

"Clint, where are you going?"

"I'm...headed out..." Clint mumbled. It was now the next Sunday, nice and surprisingly cool for an early July morning. He was slowly getting out of bed and trudging to the bathroom to take a shower and get off all the paint from the past couple days. Natasha was a little worried because it was so early the- sun was hardly up.

"Are you okay?" She stifled a yawn and walked over to the bathroom door, repeating what she had just asked. Clint gave her an, 'I'm fine,' and because she trusted him, she nodded slightly and went back to the bed to sit down. All she could hear was the shower- she wondered where Clint's usual singing had run off to. Clint rarely got up so early on days he got off, so Natasha went through a list of dates in her head. She was beginning to become a tad bit angry with herself for forgetting the date.

She ran a hand over her arm and stood up, walking over to the calendar on the wall. It was still on the last month so she reached up and pinned the paper back, scanning the squares until she found the day she was looking for.

There, in Clint's scribbly handwriting, was one name. It said, 'Coulson'.

"Oh..." she breathed, her heart sinking. She looked to the door of the bathroom- thinking a quick thanks that she did not have to see that place every morning- and took in the silence. Clint had been going to Coulson's grave once or twice every few months. She felt bad for forgetting.

Natasha sat on the bed, her hands resting neatly in her lap. When Clint walked out of the bathroom, he had pants on and was pulling a shirt over his head.

"Would you like me to go with you?" she asked.

"Um..." He paused before sitting down on the bed. When he finally did sit, Natasha rested her head against his shoulder.

"I'll be perfectly okay if you wish to talk to him alone," she said. Clint nodded and closed his eyes.

"I would prefer that..." he said. Natasha brought her hand up and grabbed Clint's shoulder.

She allowed her eyes to close. "Be back before lunch, alright?"

He nodded and stood up. Clint gave her a tight hug, then grabbed a bag he had in the corner, and put his sunglasses on his head. They waved to each other as Clint exited the room.

It took only twenty minutes to get to the grassy area that had already become familiar to Clint. He stepped out of the car and looked up at the brightening sky, tightening his grip on the bag in his hand as if someone would come and take it away. Shield agents who had died in action were buried amongst other 'normal' people, and his destination was one stone way in the back.

He reread the stones he passed again for what felt like the hundredth time. When he spotted one, he placed the bag next to it and knelt down, resting his hands on his knee, and head on his hands.

"I actually come with good news this time," Clint began. The sun was now glaring in his eyes so he pulled down his sunglasses and reached for the bag. "But first, I found this for you." Clint pulled a little figure out of the bag. It was a Captain America toy. For the first time, Clint got Steve to sign the present he brought to Coulson, and that signature was sprawled across the plastic shield.

"Thought you'd like it." Every time he came he brought something new because everything he left disappeared.

He placed it next to the stone and read the words one more time- 'Phil Coulson.' For a while he just sat in silence, until he remembered what he was going to say.

"Guess what? I think you would be excited to hear this," he said. "Or, well, as excited as you of all people could get." He chuckled. "Tasha's going to have a baby soon."

Suddenly he paused as a group of young children and an older woman walked by. One girl looked familiar, but he could not place it where. They stopped at a stone just a few feet away from where he sat.

He narrowed his eyes and scanned the stone for a name, only seeing 'Jessica Cline'-

"Kelly's sister," he breathed. His heart hurt for some reason; he had heard that one of his recruits had been in a family with an abusive mother and immediately figured it was Kelly, but no one told him that her sister had died.

Clint stood up, grabbed his bag, and wandered over.

"Oh, hello..." the woman began, spotting Clint. "What are you-"

He looked down at the girl. "She's Kelly's little sister, isn't she?"

The woman sighed and pulled a lock of hair behind her ear. "She is," she whispered. "I take her here every month. Say, how do you know Kelly?"

"She's one of my students," Clint said with a shrug. "Very nice girl."

"Oh, so you must be her trainer at SHIELD. My husband and I adopted her and her sister when they were very young...after...Jessica..."

Clint shook his head as if to say 'don't say anymore'.

"Mama, I have nothing to put here!" the girl cried. She looked over her shoulder at the woman, who lightly touched her forehead with her fingers, angry she had forgotten.

"Sorry, Olive, it completely slipped my mind. Maybe next time?" The little girl looked up at her mother with sad eyes.

Clint raised an eyebrow. He reached into his bag and pulled out a flower. It was fake, but today he had decided to bring them to put by COulson's grave because fake flowers never died. He had a few to spare.

The girl looked at the blue flower; she took it when Clint handed it to her and dug a little hole in the ground next to the stone, placing it and filling the hole again to keep it standing.

"Thank you, sir," she said, her green eyes bright. Clint nodded and waved to her. He turned and headed back to his original spot. In the background he could hear the group of kids running around and playing, and saw Olive sitting in front of Jessica's stone.

Clint did not hear the woman when she walked over. He looked out of the corner of his eye after a few minutes, and then looked up.

"Someone special?" she asked. It was only fair that he answered her back after asking her a similar question.

"An old friend," Clint replied. "He died three years ago in a really, really bad accident."

The woman nodded in acknowledgement. "He liked Captain America?" she asked.

"Huge fan." He laughed and switched to a more comfortable position on the ground with his legs crossed Indian style. "When we were training together he would never shut up about how much he wanted to meet him."

"Doesn't everyone?" the woman asked.

You have no idea...Clint thought with a deep sigh.

Suddenly she jerked her head up at the sound of a child crying. "It was nice meeting you," the woman said. "I hope you have a peaceful day." And with that she ran to the child across the field.

He lifted his sunglasses and rubbed one of his eyes. Suddenly all the memories of his nightmares came flooding back to him and he had to close his eyes and calm himself down, just like his old therapist used to say. He thought of being back with Natasha and Eric and the rest of his friends, and he knew quickly that he had to head home soon before he got any more upset.

Like the girl, he dug a hole in the ground and put a bunch of flowers in it.

"By the way, we named him Eric. His middle name is Phil..." he whispered. "We all miss you."

Clint only allowed himself a few more moments. He stood, mumbled a good bye, and then turned to leave. Olive waved and he waved back.

In his car, he pulled out his phone. He quickly texted, 'I miss him' to Natasha and then leaned back in the seat. He could hear the loud giggles and laughter of the children.

_We all do, Clint. You aren't having nightmares again, are you?_

_No, no, I'm fine. I just...every time I come back here it hits me again that he's gone._

He shook his head to clear it and then leaned forward. There was no time to be sad- Tasha was going to have a baby soon. His baby. That was something to be happy about!

Clint forced a weak smile and reached out to turn the keys.

* * *

_**Shinzu:**_ Oh, uh, ahah, sorry this is so long compared to the other chapters. This idea was in our roleplay for a fleeting moment, and I remembered it and got an idea from it. And woot Kelly!


	8. Second Verse, Same As The First

Over the next month there had been many nights when Natasha was woken up by Clint. Either he was gathering his blankets and bow to sit on the balcony outside or lightly poking her in the stomach, and neither she was surprised about. However, today she was rather surprised, as she was woken up that night by a gentle rustle and extra blankets being dragged off the foot of the bed. She sat up as Clint walked out the door, his blankets over one shoulder. It was so late- at least one in the morning- and Clint had to be at the Shield base extra early to help in the recruit's first assessment that morning.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she stood from the bed, following her fianc through the tower. She knew how to time her movements and knew exactly where Clint was going so she stood back and waited to go up the elevator. After what seemed like eternity, Natasha went up to the penthouse and walked up to the windows, her arms crossed. Clint had a blanket around his shoulders, his feet dangling off the side of the balcony.

"Not having nightmares again, are you?" Natasha asked as she walked out. Clint neither jumped nor looked over his shoulder.

"No," he said. "I was unable to sleep. Nothing much, don't worry."

Natasha understood and, with Clint's help, sat down next to him. With a questioning look, he held out his arm and she leaned into his warm embrace, feeling the blanket and Clint's arm wrap around her.

"It's nice out here," she said as she looked up at the sky. Clouds seemed to be forming. "What are you thinking about tonight?"

She could hear him release a slow breath. "Things that keep bothering me," he said, shaking his head. Natasha felt it best not to ask. "And...yeah, it is nice out here. I like being up high. I can see everything."

A smile crossed the assassin's face. It was the same thing he told her every time she caught him outside. "You know you're going to have to stay inside once we're married."

"I know, I know...Could we get a loft bed...?"

"We'll get one built for you."

Loud thunder clapped through the sky. Clint and Natasha looked up, feeling the first drops of a storm. Grumbling, the archer stood up and wrapped the blanket around Natasha, looking up as rain began to come down harder.

"Up you go." He pulled her into his arms and turned back to the tower. He stumbled. "Holy shit you're heavy." Clint let out a loud yelp as Natasha's fist connected with his jaw. He clenched his teeth and turned his head to look at the ginger, whose arms were crossed. On her face was a hard and angry.

"What?" Clint asked, grimacing when he spoke. She leaned against his chest and closed her eyes.

For a moment she was silent, but then she spoke. "Let me just tell you this for future reference never tell a pregnant woman she is heavy...or fat."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Sorry..." he mumbled.

"And don't pick me up like this. It'll catch on the security cameras and I don't want Tony to have blackmail or anything."

Clint snorted. "No need to worry, Tasha," he said, giving a smug look. "I have that taken care of already."

Somewhere high above the tower, there was a security camera flailing from side to side with an arrow straight through its lens.

* * *

When they went to bed, Clint rubbed Natasha's aching back until she fell asleep. Now that it was morning, six to be exact, she was the one leaning over and shaking his shoulder to get him to wake up. He had to be at the Shield base in an hour and he had crashed hard. Natasha rolled over onto her side and rubbed her eyes; she had a choice. She could either flip the entire mattress or try and get him awake the old fashioned way.

Old fashioned way, she thought after a while of thinking. She found herself in the bathroom with a large bucket and ice from the mini-fridge. Natasha swayed back and forth absentmindedly, contemplating whether she should do it or not. Finally with a nod, she held it under the faucet and walked back out, holding the bucket above Clint's head.

The entire tower woke to a loud shout and quiet chuckling. Natasha was standing back, the bucket behind her back and her hand held lazily in front of her mouth in an amused way.

"What the-" Clint rubbed his face with a hand. He had rolled out of bed in surprise; he was getting quite lazy lately without training agents full time and without any missions to go on. He looked up.

"Revenge for last night," Natasha said smugly.

Clint gave a look that said he did not even know what happened the night before. "What did I-"

"Nothing, Clint. Why don't you go get ready. For work. You know your job?"

"Is being a Shield agent even a flipping job?"

"You go nearly every day, work normal hours, and you get money, so yes. Just get ready. I'm going to be here for the rest of the day, so don't worry, alright?"

He nodded and stood up, stretching and rubbing an eye to get himself awake. "That was not my most graceful entrance," he pointed out, walking away to his dresser. "I'll probably be home late today or something."

Natasha gave him a look that said 'are you serious?' "You're with Shield. You're a trained assassin. I'm pretty sure you'll be okay on your own."

After he took a quick shower and threw his archery gear together, they went to the penthouse and raided the kitchen. Three bananas soon disappeared as Clint got to them.

"Are you going to eat them all?"

Clint swallowed. "What?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.

"How many are you going to eat?" Steve called across the room.

Clint's eyebrows furrowed and he looked to Natasha; she shook her head in disappointment.

"What? I can't hear him- he's not talking loud enough." He shrugged and threw some snacks into his bag, zipping it quickly. Natasha watched him walk around the counter and throw the banana peels away, never taking her eyes off the archer.

"Clint," she called loudly. He stopped walking and she went to catch up, jabbing him in the chest.

"Where are your hearing aids?"

"I lost them sometime yesterday, but I can't find them right now. If I'm not to Shield within the next fifteen minutes Fury's going to make me clean the bathrooms." Clint shook his head and leaned down to give Natasha a quick kiss. "I'll be back around five." He gently poked her stomach. "Be nice, squirt."

He sprinted to the elevator, grabbing his bag from the counter.

Steve strolled over with his hands in his pockets; he was already dressed and his hair was neatly brushed, and they had been awake for no more than half an hour. Tony stumbled through the elevator doors with Bruce, having spent the entire night in the labs (Natasha would learn over the next few days that they had been sleeping with Tony face down on the counter and Bruce leaning against him- blackmail).

As they gathered around, Natasha began to get more and more impatient and began to storm through the kitchen, opening and closing cabinets and drawers. Everyone's gaze followed her, and Tony did not skip a beat when he said, "What'ch'u lookin' for, Nat?"

She shook her head and tried to reach for the upper counters, but she was just a tad too short. Steve opened the cabinet for her.

"May I ask what you're looking for?"

Nothing was said as she waved a finger at the bag on the shelf. Steve grabbed it and handed it to her, raising an eyebrow as she tore it open.

"That's...Clint's bag of sunflower seeds."

Tony let out an 'oooooohhhhh', but Bruce punched him in the shoulder. Natasha's lips set into a thin line.

She looked at the bag, shrugging. "I don't want them," she said. "I'm not even fond of them. But you know what? Clint's child is." With that she turned and walked away, holding the plastic bag tightly in one hand.

After plowing through a handful, Natasha made her way to her room. Sometimes she liked to sleep in her old bed. It was so early that a few extra hours of rest would not hurt at all.

Carefully she placed the bag on her nightstand so it would not spill, and then pulled the covers of her bed back. She woke very few times, only moving when she was thirsty or needed to use the restroom. In the background her TV was playing a stupid cartoon movie which she only half paid attention to. It seemed to be running on a loop because it was still playing even when she woke up again nearly four hours later.

Steve came in to check on her a few times. Tony and Pepper did, too. Natasha was not all too fond about being watched over all the time- they were in a highly secure tower with a genius, a green giant, and a super soldier- but she decided to let bygones be bygones and humored them for a while. And honestly, she enjoyed the silence of the upper tower floors. It was easier to concentrate on reading and for the heck of it she decided to try reading the Percy Jackson series for a few hours. The myths were entertaining; the books were certainly for kids, but the way they were introduced and used made myths much easier to remember.

_Now if only they had one for Norse mythology_, she thought with a sigh. Natasha was sure that much of the mythology was different from what was real, however knowing mythology and culture from the time period was certainly going to help with dealing with Thor.

"I still don't understand the creatures he talks about, and I work for Shield." She let out a huff and went for more sunflower seeds.

"_Hey, Nat!_" Tony exclaimed over the intercom- wait when the hell was that thing installed? She stared at the corner of the room where she heard Tony's voice coming from. "_Nat! You wanna come play some games with us? They will involve smashing things and mysteries and we could use your expertise."_

Natasha's eyes narrowed. "Tony I am not playing live-action Clue with you again," she said. She heard an audible, disappointed sigh. "Why don't you guys watch TV or do science-whatever again? Steve can come down here with me."

There were a few agreeing mumbles.

"_Alright._" And that was it.

She was still reading when Steve came in the door. As he sat at the edge of her bed she closed her book and set it aside, going for more sunflower seeds.

"How did he almost talk you into playing Clue?" she asked.

"As much as I love it here, I can't help but think that it's pretty boring." Steve shrugged. "TVs and video games aren't...my style. I wouldn't mind going outside for some fresh air, though."

"Then why don't you go out?" Natasha scooted closer to him. "Go for a walk in the park and take a friend with you."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Seeing as you're the only sane person in the tower right now..."

"I guess I can go with you for a little while," Natasha said, tipping her head to the side in thought. "I'm bored as heck here. It's like I've watched everything on TV in the past few days. And we don't have enough ingredients to make the food I want."

Suddenly no one was saying anything. Natasha soon realized what she said, referring to everyone as 'we' instead of using 'I'. Finally she was loosening up with the group and realizing everyone was there, not just Clint and Steve (her fears of Hulk and Bruce were...getting better). She gave a weak smile that soon disappeared. Steve reached out to place a hand on her shoulder.

Natasha shook her head. "I mean I don't have enough ingredients," she said. "No one else knows how to make the food I want."

A smile appeared on Steve's face. He stood up and, being the gentleman he was, held out a hand.

"Want to go with me to the store? We can get Clint some more sunflower seeds so he doesn't freak out."

A quiet laugh escaped her lips, but she grabbed his hand and hauled herself up. As she was already dressed, all she had to do was grab her phone and comb her hair, which was done in a total of five minutes.

Thankfully the day was bright and cheery. It was hot, as it was late July, and being five months pregnant did not help in the slightest. Steve stepped on the mat first to get the sliding doors open and gestured for Natasha to go into the air conditioned building first. Three years and he was still freaked out about those doors.

"Where to first?" Steve asked as he grabbed a basket. "Meat?"

"Mm...yeah. It's what, four? Let's try and get out of here by five. I'm hungry."

Steve grinned ever so slightly. He led Natasha through the aisles and ended up in the meat section.

She chose her food as he hung back, quietly looking around the store. It was one he had not been in, and Natasha was silently amused by his intense observing. She waved him over and headed straight for the pasta aisle. Steve sped up and slowed when he caught up with Natasha.

"You seem intent on something," he said.

"Yeah, I really want food."

Distracted, they did not end up getting everything they needed until 5:15 and all their food had to be switched over to a cart. Natasha pulled out her phone to check up on things- or, rather, to make sure Clint had gotten home- as she swiped items through the self-checkout. Steve was taking bags in his hand as they came, looking over to grab the next bag Natasha handed him.

But no bag came.

_This is Natasha right?_

_Why are you on Clint's phone? Who is this?_

She got a call next, answering to a male voice.

"_Sorry, that was Kelly. She's terrified of talking to you. Uhm...anyway...problem..."_

"Spit it out," Natasha hissed. She felt the stares of a few concerned people, but busied herself with placing things in bags.

_"Well, Mr. Barton's in the infirmary..._" And then the call ended from bad service.

* * *

_**Shinzu**_ : Well, this chapter took a while. Ran into some dead ends (not writers block- something with Rakei) and then I ran out of phrases- sometimes I run into a problem where it feels like I've used the same sentence or phrase too much, so I took a break. :U

Hope you enjoyed!


	9. Little Bit Louder, Little Bit Worse

Natasha parked her car in front of a tall, looming building off in the outskirts of the city. She pulled herself out and practically stormed into the building; on the outside she was a hard wall, a woman with her sights set on one goal and her face set into a hard, intimidating expression, but on the inside she was worried sick, her heart beating a million miles an hour. Other assassins were scrambling, rushing by her, while agents stood by and kept watch on all exits. Once or twice Natasha was stopped, but she stormed on past them and went right up to one of the desks.

"Where is he?"

The woman scrambling through papers looked up. "You are not permitted to see him now-"

"Where. Is. He."

They gave each other hard looks. The woman shook her head and began to leaf through papers once more. "Director Fury wishes to see you," she said as she glanced at her computer. "Second floor conference room."

Natasha sent daggers to the woman once more. She made her way up to the second floor and stood in front of the door, contemplating on either breaking it down or walking in calmly. Because it was Fury, she chose the latter and reached out to open the door. Fury was standing by the window with his arms crossed and turned when he heard Natasha close the door behind her.

He was always one to get right down to business. "I guess you got word early."

"What happened?"

"Just a security breech."

Natasha's eyebrow twitched. "JUST a security breech?" she hissed. "How many people were hurt? Clint and half of his class!"

"Though it is a troubling and problematic situation, I'm pretty sure that they will all be fine."

She shook her head, gritting her teeth. She knew nothing; getting ahold of Forrest and Kelly again had been a lost cause as no one picked up, so she had no idea on the current situation besides the fact that, well, _people were attacked_.

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out through her nose, Natasha looked Fury straight in the eye. "Who was it?"

"It was a mutant. That's all we know right now because Weiss managed to knock it out and it still has not come to."

Natasha gripped the top of one of the chairs. A mutant...like...Wolverine and his buddies. She knew they were going to be a problem at some point, and if the person who attacked was anyone she knew...

Again she took a deep breath. "Where are Clint and the other recruits right now?"

"Three- including Clint- are in surgery right now because they got shot multiple times."

Slowly the assassin sank down into a chair, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Care to explain to us how Agent Barton didn't _notice_the mutant coming up behind him?"

"He couldn't hear," Natasha said, remembering back to that morning. "He lost his hearing aids and had no time to find them."

Fury was silent- probably enraged over the fact that Clint was in such a condition because he could not _hear_. He dismissed Natasha with a wave of his hand. "Your boyfriend is in the infirmary. If you want to see him you'll have to _wait_. That or we'll send you home so you don't get more stressed out than you already are. Out."

Almost in a daze, Natasha stood up and left, walking at a slow pace until she reached the next floor up. There was a lobby with a few desks and chairs, one of which Natasha chose to sit down in. Kelly and Forrest were waiting across the room. Kelly's feet were pulled up on the chair and her arms were wrapped around her knees, looking genuinely disturbed. Forrest was silent, his hat resting on his lap and ginger hair flopping lazily in his eyes.

Natasha stood up after a while and quietly sat next to Forrest. He looked up at her with cold blue eyes and then looked back down at the floor.

"I thought Fury would have sent you home."

"He doesn't want me to go home," Forrest mumbled. "I'm the one who knocked the freak out and now he wants me to stay for questioning or some shit like that. And Laufey got out so I can't really go anywhere until they finish questioning me."

"Laufey?"

"Some ice dude." Forrest held his fingers up above his head to imitate spikes. "Apparently he didn't die and was actually sent here and he's been wandering around as a human for a long time. Yeah, they caught him last week."

Kelly let out a quiet whimper.

"What's wrong with her?" Natasha deadpanned. "Kelly, you're a Shield recruit. If you want to get anywhere you've got to actually...you know...not be a terrified little chipmunk."

The ginger boy leaned over and whispered to Natasha, "She's terrified of women older than her," he said. "Something about her childhood."

She raised an eyebrow and looked at Kelly, who was burying her face into her knees. What was troubling her would have to wait, however, as doors were opened and some people were being taken to the recovery room. Natasha went to stand up, but the secretary at the desk shook his head.

"Barton won't be out for a while."

Natasha settled herself back in her seat despite how uncomfortable it was and crossed her arms. She tried to make herself comfortable and managed to doze off for a while, awoken only by the sounds of people rushing in and out of the area. The next time she woke was when Forrest gently nudged her int he arm.

After a few more, Natasha finally opened an eye. "What?" she snarled.

"Do you want some food?" Forrest asked. "I'm going out to get some..."

She stared blankly for a moment and then shook her head as if she had been completely zoned out. "Um...sure. Uh...go to the tower and get the sunflower seeds on my nightstand."

It took him twenty minutes to get back. He handed her the bag and tossed a salad over to Kelly, who grabbed it tightly and ate only a little.

"Are you worried about something?" Natasha asked, genuinely curious.

"Uh...n-no..." Kelly squeaked. She stabbed lettuce with her fork and stuffed it in her mouth to avoid talking. When she swallowed, Natasha gave her a quizzical look. "...Okay y-yeah..."

Kelly looked away. Natasha frowned and took a handful of seeds. A plan was forming in her head, one that was soon put into action. As if it was perfectly natural, Natasha stood up and began to walk down the hall, saying, "I'm going to the bathroom," to the secretary. Doors were open and people were rushing about, taking recruits and patching them up.

At the end of the hall, she skipped the bathroom and turned, finding one of the surgery rooms. She walked by and peeked in, pulling herself into stealth mode. Through the little window she could see machines upon machines upon machines. She personally had no idea what half of them did—except a heart monitor, which was beating at a stable rate, and an IV drip with its long tube leading down into the patient's skin—as soon as she gazed in. Doctors were bustling about the room like ants, each doing their own little job. Natasha was too distracted by the patient on the table to notice the doctors, however. The patient was on their stomach, their head facing downwards towards the floor. A large sheet covered him and the part that was over the patient's lower back was soaked in bright red blood. It was then that the woman noticed what the surgeons were doing—pulling metal out of the patient's back. Small, deadly splinters of metal, removed carefully with a pair of tweezers.

Natasha's breath caught in her throat. She knew it was Clint on the operating table. She could tell just by the little bit of his face should could see—his cheekbones, his ear, the corner of his mouth. She had never seen him this vulnerable, so motionless and almost dead-looking. He was so _pale_. She wanted nothing more than to run into the room and grab him and shake the color back into him.

Suddenly, her eyes caught a change in the heart monitor's rate. Even though she could not hear the beeping through the heavy metal door, she could see that Clint's pulse was speeding up. Faster, faster, faster. Doctors snapped into action—she could almost hear the words as their lips moved: "We're losing him!"

"Miss? Miss, you are not authorized to be back here." Natasha did not look at the person speaking to her as her eyes followed every move of the doctors behind the glass. It was like a panicked scramble as they did everything in their power to get Clint's heart rate down, yet the monitor never slowed.

"Agent Romanov, I _told you to wait._" Natasha had no choice but to let her head snap around to meet the glare of Director Fury, who stood with his arms crossed, his feet set. Behind him was a cowering nurse, probably the woman who had informed her earlier that she wasn't allowed to be in this area of the hospital. Natasha pulled her eyebrows down to match Fury's expression.

"I had to see him," she replied bluntly. Her eyes flicked back towards the window, where the doctors were still trying to restore Clint's heart rate. She felt her gut twist.

"I gave you orders. You have no authority here—you can't just go running around like a little brat, peeking into windows until you find him." The two had a silent stare-down, the nurse looking on with a nervous expression. They stayed like that for a few moments and were only shaken from it when Natasha was nearly knocked to the floor by a frantic doctor who had come bursting out of the operating room.

"Oh, good, a nurse," the doctor gasped, not even noticing that he had bumped in to someone. "We need blood. Stat." The doctor then spun on his heel and retreated back into the room while the nurse scuttled away to go retrieve bags of blood, all while Natasha was still trying to stand back up on her feet, dazed from being knocked off balance.

"Come on, Romanov." Fury stalked over and grabbed the woman's elbow, yanking her firmly back onto her feet, and then began pulling her in the direction of the waiting room.

* * *

When Natasha had first stormed in the next day Tony and Bruce had thought something had just annoyed her, but as she rambled on about how she was kicked out of the hospital, they realized the situation was much worse. They watched like intent cats, turning their heads for their gazes to follow her; both were distracted, having been working on something when she stormed in.

"Nat- Nat you need to stop," Tony grumbled, pointing to her. "It was bad enough when your boyfriend did it…but instead of staying quiet you won't stay QUIET."

"Quiet…quiet…quiet…" Bruce echoed. He lifted his head from his arms folded across the top of the chair and pulled on his glasses. "Why don't you sit do-"

"Why don't you leave me alone!" she snapped, spinning around to stare at them. "You have no idea what's going on-"

Tony held up his hands innocently. "I think we know exactly what's going on because you won't shut up about it."

Suddenly Bruce cast a look at Tony, who looked smug as Natasha stormed up.

She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him toward her. "Shut up," she snarled. "You have no idea what I'm going through!"

"Well, um, yeah- I'm never going to be pregnant."

Bruce slammed his head back into his arms. Before it got bad, he stood up and left. When he got to the door and turned around, he saw that Natasha was giving Tony a blank stare; tears were falling down her face and she slowly let go of Tony's shirt.

She brought up one of her hands and rubbed her eyes. "Fine," she mumbled. "Fine just…"

Tony stood up when she began to sob and caught her in a huge hug. Pepper came into the room at that time and Tony gave her a very confused look. Frowning, the woman gently pulled Natasha away and took her to the couch.

"He's not going to be okay," Natasha said, trying to stop herself from sobbing. She buried her face in a pillow and shook her head when Pepper tried to talk to her. "He looked really, really bad-"

"Hey, Shield's got the best doctors," Pepper said, rubbing Natasha's back. "He'll be perfectly fine."

Shifting from foot to foot, Tony wondered what to do. He spun around on one heel and headed for a door, but at that moment his phone began to ring.

His eyebrows furrowed- it was Director Fury. With a quick look back, he took note of how both the girls were distracted, so he lifted the phone to his ear and answered it.

"What do you want?" he asked, stepping out of the room. "It's not like the tower's trying to deal with the woman you threw out."

"_We had our reasons-"_

"WE HEARD. Over. And over. AND OVER."

There was a grumbled from the other end. "_Shut up and get your sorry ass in here_," Fury snarled.

"Why. For what reason do you want me of all people-"

"_If you don't get in here within the next half hour YOU will deal with Natasha_."

"What's going on this time?" Tony asked.

_"There's a problem…You're the only one who would know how to deal with this sort of thing."_

Tony paused a minute, the only sound being Pepper's hushed, comforting words and Natasha stifled sobs. Tony breathed in slowly.

"Oh…"

"_Yeah. So get over here. Now." _The line went dead, leaving Tony standing with the phone still pressed to his ear. After a moment, he sighed and slid his phone into his pocket and stalked over to the couch. He gripped Natasha's arm and pulled her to her feet.

"What are you—" Pepper gasped.

"You're coming with me. No questions."

* * *

To say Fury was not furious was an understatement. He had sent Natasha home to get her out of the place, but she ended up right back there anyway, forced to stand in the back of the room as Tony stood next to Clint. IV drips and a heart monitor set the scene of the room and the smell of everything being too _clean _was stifling.

Tony was intently poking Clint in the back, prodding him like a child would a dead animal with a stick. A doctor got him to stop and then Tony stood back to ask questions.

"What the hell happened?" Tony asked.

"He was shot and stabbed multiple times in the back," Fury replied, arms crossed.

"Well that was blunt. Let's take a look, shall we?"

Natasha had her arms crossed and was leaning against the back wall next to a random machine. Her gaze was locked on something in the corner, and a thousand thoughts rushed through her mind. The doctors and nurses refused to tell her what was going on in fear that it would freak her out and stress her out more. She just wanted to know what was going on with her fiancé. She had the right to know, didn't she?

"Explain to me in detail-"

"Why did you bring her?" Fury demanded, nodding towards the redhead in the back of the room.

"I'm sure that once she got wind that I was here she was going to force her way in anyway." Tony shrugged and dropped his voice low. "You know, I think she should see a doctor soon."

Fury raised an eyebrow, but did not ask questions. "Hurry up and do your thing."

"You realize it's going to take a couple hours for what I've got to do."

"What ARE you going to do?" Natasha demanded, stepping forward and dropping her hands to her sides. "And don't give me shitty excuses again."

Stark looked at Fury and then back to Natasha. "Come on, let's go back to the tower real quick," he said, rushing out of the room with Natasha in tow. After they were a ways away from Fury and other doctors, Tony sighed.

"Explain."

"Okay, okay, fine- we're going to have to pull a me in order for your boyfriend to not be paralyzed."

"What do you mean…?"

* * *

_**Shinzu**_****: AWYEAH NEW CHAPTER. Rakei helped a ton with this so go read her stuff 'n...stuff okay. DO IT.

Anyway please don't flame us for what is about to happen please don't it's just a story nothing is canon. OTL

AND WE GOOFED UP. We had them find out the baby was a boy at 4 months BUT YOU CAN'T FIGURE OUT GENDER TILL 5 MONTHS. We are sorry- we're 15 and know shit. u.u


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